Get the Lead Out: Testing for and Removing Lead in School Water - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Get the Lead Out: Testing for and Removing Lead in School Water Systems JULY 17, 2017 Presenters Dr. Lauren Gambill, Pediatrician, UC Davis John Rumpler, Clean Water Program Director, Environment America Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent,
Testing for and Removing Lead in School Water Systems
JULY 17, 2017
John Rumpler, Clean Water Program Director, Environment America
Lauren Gambill, MD Pediatrician, University of California Davis State Government Affairs Representative, American Academy of Pediatrics
barrier; less in bone
kidneys
Lead is 1 of the major risk factors for:
Get the Lead Out: Ensuring Safe Drinking Water for Our
Children
John Rumpler Clean Water Program Director
Work to protect clean water and air Supported by citizen members State affiliates in 29 states www.environmentamerica.org
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Lead in Schools’ Drinking Water: understanding the problem Get the Lead Out: solutions to ensure safe water for our children
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org
Review: Lead is a Potent Neurotoxin
develop, grow, and behave.
brain, kidneys, and bones.
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Lead in Our Drinking Water
Beyond Flint:
“Excessive” lead levels found in almost 2,000
water systems across all 50 states Alison Young & Mark Nichols, USA Today (2016)
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org
Even in Our Schools
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
New Data Since Our Report in February: more lead found in schools’ water
Massachusetts: Of 60,000 taps tested at
schools, 49.7 percent detected lead in the water.
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/water/drinking/lead-and-copper- in-school-drinking-water-sampling-results.html
New Jersey: school districts across the
state were required to submit test results by last Thursday, July 13th. We examined available data from Bergen County.
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
How Does Lead Get into Drinking Water at School?
Image: Lead Service Line. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/styles/medium/publi c/2015-10/lead-service-line-id-2.jpg
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
drinking or cooking – including the school nurse’s office.
so tests will sometimes fail to detect it.
risk of contamination.
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org
Lead in Schools’ Drinking Water
Lead corrosion is highly variable Some testing methods – including flushing – reduce the likelihood/levels of lead detection. 15 parts per billion: an “action level” designed for water utility management, not a measure of what is safe for children to drink.
Understanding Test Results and Limitations
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
New York City: a cautionary testing tale
In 2016, New York City schools flushed their water systems for 2 hours before conducting lead tests. After Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech declared the results should be “thrown in the garbage,” the city retested without flushing. The new results found nine times as many outlets with lead above 15 ppb.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/nyregio n/new-york-dept-education-lead- water.html?_r=0
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Action to Ensure Safe Water for Children at School
Immediate prevention: Install certified filters at all outlets used for cooking or drinking, as soon as possible. Get the Lead Out: Replace lead-bearing faucets, fixtures, plumbing, and pipes. Ace the Test: test all outlets used for drinking or cooking, and avoid testing methods that reduce levels of lead detected. Doctors’ Orders: Adopt a 1 part per billion standard to protect children’s health, as per recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Communicate: provide easy public access to all test results detecting any level of lead in the water, remediation plans, and progress.
Solution: Time to Get the Lead Out
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org
Of costs and benefits
Medical researchers estimate that more than 24 million children in America will lose IQ points due to low levels of lead. A 2010 World Health Organization report found that childhood lead poisoning was costing the United States $43 Billion per year. The report’s cost benefit analysis also found that for every $1 spent to reduce lead hazards, there was a benefit of $17-220 saved.
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Communities and schools taking action to “Get the Lead Out”
Seattle, WA (Dr. Nyland) Madison, WI and Lansing, MI replaced lead service lines, community-wide Fort Worth, TX: removed lead-lined water fountains. Washington, DC schools installing filters and adopting a 5 ppb standard
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org
Contact: John Rumpler, Clean Water Program Director Environment America jrumpler@environmentamerica.org (617) 747-4306 www.environmentamerica.org
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org
Photos by Susie Fitzhugh
Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. History of Drinking Water Quality Program at Seattle Public Schools
July 17, 2017 Larry Nyland, Superintendent
Larry Nyland, Superintendent
Flip Herndon, Associate Superintendent
Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 28
The problem The solutions Costs: Initial and Ongoing How the Process Works Now Progress to Date Lessons Learned
Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 29
One student complained about the odd color in his school’s water fountains The parent contacted the principal who contacted the maintenance department The maintenance department said there was nothing they could do to fix the problem Parents began bringing bottles of brown water to the school board meetings
Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 30
Testing Triage: Bottled Water Policy: Set testing levels and 3 year cycle Consultant Easy fixes: Fixtures and Filters Voter approved tax Replaced water lines for half of our schools
Bottled water: $750K Outside consultants: $250K Immediate fixture and pipe replacement $7M Long term increased capital cost: $5M
Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 32
Ongoing monitoring costs are approximately $100,000 per year: Lab Work = $60K Staff Monitor = $40K Additional remediation costs vary depending on the year and number of sources identified to be fixed or replaced.
Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 33
Periodic testing every three years School/fixture results posted on the website
https://www.seattleschools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/District/Departments/Risk%20Management/Water/ waterQualityProtocol.pdf
Policy 6896 is also posted to our website
http://www.seattleschools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/District/Departments/Risk%20Management/Wate r/6896BP.pdf
Water bottle filling stations recently added
Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 34
2004 testing at 96 schools
65% of fixtures met criteria with first draw 94% with 30 second flush
Recurring 3-year testing began in 2007
95% of drinking water sources met criteria 99.4% with 30 second flush
Latest round of testing
97% of sources met criteria 99.7% with 30 second flush.
taken out, per board policy.
Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 35
Respond early Define healthy water standards Make small repairs right away Get an outside health specialist to assess the problem, define it and make a plan to fix it Build a timeline to address the work. Provide bottled water in the interim Post results and progress made
Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 36